The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Loading ...

Loading ...

This story appears in the {{article.article.magazine.pretty_date}} issue of {{article.article.magazine.pubName}}. Subscribe

It seems that war chest Barack Obama, who plays videogames, is building for re-election and his continued use of the Internet and technology is paying off, sort of. Gamers who play Nexon’s MapleStory free-to-play online game chose Obama in a landslide in a recent Web-based poll that was conducted March 23 through March 26.

Unemployment was named the top issue for these gamers, the majority of which are independents. The poll received 1,655 responses. Only U.S. residents who were registered MapleStory players were given access to the survey. The poll asked players who they favored among the current candidates running for president, what they consider the most important issues facing the United States and their political identification.

MapleStory is a 2D, free-to-play massively multiplayer online role playing game that has more than 9 million registered players in North America and more than 116 million players worldwide. A wide majority of MapleStory players are between the ages of 18-29, and nearly 40 percent are female players. Nexon America is the North American business unit of Nexon Co. Ltd., a global publisher of free-to-play online games founded in South Korea and headquartered in Tokyo.

Things aren’t looking good for Republicans, none of whom campaigned in MapleStory…yet. Forty-eight percent of the survey respondents favored Barack Obama. A whopping twenty-one percent indicated that they did not know or favor any of the candidates. Ron Paul was favored by 14 percent, Mitt Romney was favored by 10 percent, Rick Santorum was favored by 5 percent and only 2 percent named Newt Gingrich as most favored.

Republicans might not need to campaign to these gamers, at least when you look at their political identification. Forty-nine percent of the surveyed indicated they were independent and not affiliated with any political party. Thirty-four percent identified themselves as being Democrats while 17 percent identified themselves as Republicans.

Those who spend a lot of time online playing in virtual worlds are interested in keeping their day (or night) job. After all, someone needs to pay for that broadband Internet connection. Forty percent of those surveyed listed unemployment as the most important issue facing the United States. The gap between rich and poor was listed by 28 percent of those surveyed as most important, followed by social issues with 12 percent, with healthcare and terrorism/national security both weighing in at 10 percent.

“This poll was quite a learning experience for us and gave our players a chance to voice their opinions about topics outside the game they love,” said Nexon America CEO, Daniel Kim. “Our players represent an important element of the electorate and these results should be interesting to anyone following what younger voters are thinking about and what is important to them.”

And in keeping things interesting for players, but likely not for the majority of you reading this, Nexon America gave its players a chance to voice their feelings about the world inside of MapleStory. The town in Maple World that most appealed to MapleStory players was Lefre, which brings players closer to nature. Meanwhile, 58 percent of players were most concerned about the evil that the Black Mage was spreading throughout their virtual world.